TY - BOOK AU - Brook,Clodagh J. TI - The expression of the inexpressible in Eugenio Montale's poetry: metaphor, negation, and silence SN - 9780199248988 U1 - 851.912 23 PY - 2002/// CY - Oxford [U.K.] PB - Oxford University Press KW - Montale, Eugenio, 1896- -- Criticism and interpretation KW - Metaphor in literature KW - Negation (Logic) in literature KW - Silence in literature KW - Criticism and interpretation N2 - "'It is impossible to say just what I mean!' Prufrock's frustration in Eliot's celebrated poem underlines the pessimistic view of language at the heart of much Modernist poetry. Locating the greatest Italian poet of the twentieth century, Eugenio Montale, firmly within European Modernism, this book examines the struggle with language that is central to his work. What can a poet do when words fail him? Does he put down his pen, retreat into silence? Does he seek instead to push language towards its limits, and, if so, what tools can he employ? What part does metaphor, the via negativa, allusive or understated writing have in this process? These are just some of the issues that Clodagh J. Brook seeks to address. In its unravelling of the inexpressibility paradox, her book offers a new reading of Montale's early verse, and reveals how in articles and metapoetic comments Montale gives us ins ER -